Text 36974, 89 rader
Skriven 2010-04-21 00:34:06 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: NC Food 5
=================
On Monday, we left Emerald Isle on the Atlantic coast of NC and drove to
almost the other end of NC -- to Asheville NC.  By the time we got
there, we were tired enough to not want to give much thought to dinner
and on recommendation of the receptionist at the motel went to a near by
Chinese buffet.  It was decent, better than many, but not the best we
have been to.

On Tuesday, we drove to the Biltmore Estate -- one of our prime reasons
for wanting to visit Asheville.  It is a grand place.  To quote someone
I happen to be quite fond of --- "No one should have that much money".
We did a self guided walking tour of the main building using some rented
audio device and quite enjoyed it.  I don't recall the exact size of the
mansion, but believe that they gave the figure in acres of floor space
instead of square feet.  It is 4 acres, or 175,000 square feet with 250
rooms, one of which is about seven stories high (the main dining room).

The gardens were very pretty.  Tulips were in full bloom.
After touring the estate, we had a little time left and so we took the
greyline trolley tour around time.  It has ten stops and you can get off
and get back on at any one.  We just went all the way around, listening
to the guide narration (almost a two hour trip).

For dinner we went to a restaurant called the Early Girl.
http://www.earlygirleatery.com/

This is a place that we first heard about years ago when we visited
Charleston, SC and ate at a place called The Hominy Grill.
http://hominygrill.com/ which was a very interesting place.  Their
literature mentioned The Early Girl because the two chefs were brothers.

Gail had cornmeal crusted catfish and got a very nice piece of fish,
firm not mushy.  For sides, she had Mac&Cheese and collard greens.  I
ordered a soup starter -- white bean with ham.  My entree was the pan
fried mountain trout with a blackberry green tomato sauce.  It was good,
but I think that Gail got the better deal:-}}  If anything the sauce
detracted from the fish.  For sides I got squash medley and black eyed
peas.  In case you can't guess -- this place features Southern cookery.
They also have a pretty good breakfast menu.

On Wednesday, we went back to the trolley and rode it to the Thomas
Wolfe house to tour that place.  It was an interesting view of early
third of the 20th century.

That afternoon, we drove out to chimney rock -- a geological formation
that seems to be featured in a lot of pictures about the Asheville area.
The road out there was a local state road, winding and slow going with a
lot of 180 degree switch backs.  The park is a local state park, and
admission was included in a two day blue ridge pass we had bought.  They
have an elevator that takes you from the parking lot to the gift shop at
the base of the chimney formation.  It is an impressive sight, but we
did not take the forty plus steps to get from the gift shop level to the
top of the formation.  We found a way back that was a bit longer, but
more normal roads:-}}

For dinner, we went to a German restaurant that we had discovered in our
web search.  It is a few miles to the north of Asheville in a town
called Woodfin.
http://www.bavariandining.com/index.html
The owner and chef (DOC) makes all his own sausages and has recipes
handed down by his German family.

I had Münchner Sauerbraten, Roasted Beef marinated in Wine Vinegar &
Spices for 10 days. Served with Spätzle, Vienna Salad, German Bread &
Herb Butter.  This was a very good dish -- if you like sauerbraten and I
do.  It is my standard order the first time I visit a German restaurant.
They did it good (but different from the sour beef and dumplings served
at the Dimitris Greek restaurant we went to with the picnic group
several years ago here in Maryland).

Gail ordered a bratwurst platter.  You had your choice of five types.
She chose a feuer bratwurst (hot -- but not too much) and a traditional
bratwurst.  Both were larger than we buy in the store, and both were
quite good.

If this place were within 20 miles of us, we would be going there often!

Our trip home was long, but uneventful.  Along the way we stopped at a
KFC and had their buffet (already talked about it).

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 00:15:14, 21 Apr 2010
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